The first round of action was completed in Brazil today as the Hang Loose Santa Catarina Pro kicked off. There were hopes for the sake of the event, as well as those who actually decided to show up, that the conditions at Imbituba would be in top form, that the story would be more about the brilliant surfing taking place than the fact that an astounding 13 out of the ASP Top 44 surfers have pulled out of the event for various reasons. That wasn’t the case however. The crumbling beach-break we’ve come to expect at the Santa Catarina Pro was in full effect.

The second to last stop on the Dream Tour was dealt an even bigger blow when world no. 5 surfer, Brazil’s own Adriano de Souza pulled out of the event at the last minute with a twisted ankle. “I’m not feeling good ,” de Souza said. I’m just getting better from a twisted ankle I injured in the Rio de Janeiro WQS, so I am not 100% which is very unlucky because I was looking to get a good result in Brazil.” That left only half of the Top 10 to take part in the event. Overall, 20 of the 48 surfers in the event hail from Brazil.
Bede Durbige, Fred Patacchia, Jeremy Flores, and Jordy Smith were among the standouts in Rd. 1. Jordy had the wave of the day with a 9.59 score after throwing two airs on the same wave. However as a result of two late interference calls, both of which could be attributed to the unpredictable surf, Jordy now finds himself in the dreaded loser’s round.

The holding period for the 2008 Quiksilver Pro France officially opened today, however the Atlantic Ocean just wasn’t giving up any love for the French leg of the ASP World Tour. Conditions at Hossegor were about as weak as it possibly gets today. The call for a lay-day was a pretty easy one to make for the event organizers, especially with a solid swell making it’s way there as early as tomorrow. With the possible 3-5 ft. swell on tap for Saturday, last year’s rookie of the year, as well as one of the hometown favorites Jeremy Flores could very well be taking to the water to lead off what is a fantastic 1st round of match-ups scheduled for the Quiksilver Pro.

Kelly Slater will get his march to #9 going in the 8th eat of Rd. 1 as he comes up against San Clemente, Ca. surfer Chris Ward and wild-card contestant Joan Duru from France. Kelly is obviously very aware of what needs to take place in order for him to move onto Mundaka with his 9th world championship in hand. “I know I have to win the event to clinch the title and a second won’t be enough, that’s the math,” Slater said. His past experience and lack of typical Slater success in France makes this an even tougher task for Slater. Slater has only one French ASP World Tour win to his credit 14 years into his career. “It is a great event but I got third place four years in a row which is pretty frustrating,” Slater said. “The first and only time I won here was in 1996, 12 years ago.”

This years U.S. Open of Surfing runner-up, as well as likely full-timer on the ‘09 Dream Tour Tim Boal, also from France, won the Komunity Trials to join Joan Duru and Michel Bourez as the final wildcard into the event. Boal will surf in another heat likely to produce epic surfing when he hoes up against Trestle’s runner-up and current world no.2 Taj Burrow and Huntington Beach phenom Timmy Reyes once action gets underway. Other top heats include Heat 4, featuring Andy Irons and Dane Reynolds, and Heat 7, which features Joel Parkinson and Dane Reynolds.

The official call for the beginning of the ‘08 Quik Pro France will be made tomorrow at 8am local time, stay tuned!

There are none more excited about this leg of the tour than Europe’s record four surfers from the Top 45 that will represent the continent in the next two events. Aritz Aranburu(Spain), Tiago Pires(Portugal), and Frenchmen Jeremy Flores and Mikey Picon proudly symbolize what is a rapidly growing brigade of top European surfing talent and are undoubtedly looking forward to having the Dream Tour’s version of home-field advantage on their sides for the stops in France and Spain.
Reigning world-champion Mick Fanning comes in as the defending champion of this event as he took out South-African Greg Emslie on his way to a victory here in 2007. Following a disappointing performance at Trestles for Fanning, Mick will no doubt be coming into the Quik Pro France with guns ablazing.
It goes without saying that all eyes will be firmly squared on that guy named Slater as the event gets underway. A French-victory combined with less than stellar results from the Aussie-brigade will essentially put the seal on #9.

The competition sites will once again be between Seignosse and Saint-Jean-de-Luz and including Hossegor and Capbreton. With the action getting set to get underway, you definitely want to stay tuned to 5’s for more info regarding the 2008 Quiksilver Pro France.

And while you webcast junkies are patiently waiting for the 8th stop of the tour to kick-off you can check out the video from last years final.

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